a-24-z
by StupidityNowOffersWisdom
Summary: Twenty-six alphabetical drabbles to commemorate the one and only Slaine Troyard's birthday. Spoilers for Second Cour; mostly one-sided SureAse.
1. Ascension

**A/N:** Happy birthday, Slaine! While he's fucked up a lot and all, it's still pretty human to fuck your life up.

I'm not about to argue about Inaho vs Slaine, so let's not get into that. While I do like Slaine _(a lot)_, I don't think I've painted him in too good a light here. Though if you're looking for something to bash Slaine with, I suggest you leave.

So here we go, twenty-six alphabetical drabbles.

_There **will** be spoilers for Second Cour. _You have been warned.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>A<strong>scension

It doesn't feel _right_, the way his uniform now flares out around his waist, seemingly flamboyant. Neither do its grey tones put him at ease, which seem far too close to the UFE garb fell in.

And sometimes, he wonders, if it was the right price to pay to keep her body preserved so prettily in stasis fluid. Lemrina's resentment, her façade - it does nothing but remind him of _why_ he submitted to Saazbaum and why _he_ got knighted. (All because of her, all because of her fall.)

Mayhaps the skies will have mercy on his descent to the hells.


	2. Ballistics

**B**allistics

He doesn't like to admit it, but spending time in the Tharsis has its pros. So much more when he gets sent out to assist the Versian forces.

It's dangerous, yes, but the adrenaline takes his mind off his Princess - Asseylum, not Lemrina - as he counters a round of fire from the Terrans with much more of his own.

Of course, he knows they weren't responsible for any of that mess at all. Of course, he knows Saazbaum is the one he wants justice from, but his world will end should _she_ be subject to any form of lethal danger.


	3. Condense

**C**ondense

Nights on Vers are dull, and naturally, there's only rest or work to be done.

Naturally, he chooses rest, though all it does is hurt.

Sometimes he sits with his Princess, and wallows in his self-pity (not that he would subject _her_ to such a sight), sometimes he lies prone trying to feel, again, _her_ gentle caress, _her_ lips on his, and not _her_ blood on his hands.

Sometimes it's too hard to even breathe, the air in his lungs seeming to condense and force themselves out as chokes and sobs as he mourns his stupidity and his Princess.


	4. Disillusionment

**D**isillusionment

He must be living in a realistic faerie story, a peasant falling in love with the Princess, with all those logical twists and turns that wrench her from his grasp just to seal her behind a curtain of glass (_I believe in you_).

The curtain flutters every now and then, when he talks to his Princess, and her vital stats trip on themselves (_I'm always listening_).

But he keeps forgetting, that beyond the curtain of glass and stasis fluid, the world is so very quiet (_I'll be waiting_).

And maybe, just maybe, they'll make the curtain call together (_maybe... I..._).


	5. Elysium

**E**lysium

If the skies are blue, then what paints the heavens?

He likes to think they're splattered with all the glorious shades of blues and whites and in-betweens, with a good helping of lace and royal frills.

Just blues, albeit heavenly, would be rather boring - and he thinks, appropriate shades of crimsons would do well, crafted into delicate roses, thorny and still bleeding sap.

And pinks, the shade of her lips; yellows, the weave of her hair as she sings and laughs gaily upon an evergreen land; blacks, the shadow of his eyelids as his lips gently press against hers.


	6. Freefall

**F**reefall

There are times when he wonders how it feels to fall from the sky, blazing out in a moment's worth of gravity-induced motion and bloom of lifeblood.

He wonders how marvellous the splatters of nature's paint would be, were he to have the opportunity to colour the Earth with anti-Asseylum blood. Or how euphoric the feeling must be, to send troublemakers like Orange soaring to their demise.

Incidentally, he intends to watch as one Kaizuka Inaho joins forces with the Earth with the squelch of an orange hitting the ground.

Whoever knew fruit bats fed off citrus fruits?


	7. Green

**G**reen

He resents that term - what he really is - what he denies being - _green-eyed monster_. Yes, yes, his irises are green - so are the Princess's (_she_ is a beauty, _not_ a _monster_).

He pretends to be mildly interested when she brings up all the _friends_ she makes on Earth. He blinks when she mentions _Kaizuka Inaho_ with reverence and how _a filthy terran (like him)_ saved her life.

His eyes give him away.

Worse still was knowing that _she_ spent her virgin trip to Earth mostly in the company of that rotten Orange. And enjoying it, for the most part.


	8. Haemorrhage

**H**aemorrhage

It's not everyday that an adolescent male has a panicking, eleven year-old come running to him, nightclothes stained a bloody red.

Crying and shaking, she relates her fear and suspicion of having hurt herself in her sleep.

He'd suffered enough biological education for shades of brilliant red to warm his face. The Princess was no longer _just a girl_.

He sputters nervously as he attempts to nudge her in the direction of anyone more capable of handling the situation and pacify the Princess's fears of imminent death.

Heavens forbid he explain the reproductive abilities of humans to the Princess.


	9. Irregularities

**I**rregularities

Versian life is highly structured and repetitive, much of his centred around simulation practices and _her_ lessons. Being young people, much fault was found in the lack of freedom to do as pleased.

The Princess did take to rebellion in the form of commanding him to toss politics and all those dull lessons to a corner and tell her stories about his time on Earth. Eager to please, he broke out into tale after tale of Terran life, enrapturing the Princess.

Suffice to say, they were quite stunned when Cruhteo emerged from the shadows to drag the poor boy away.


	10. Jacinthe

**J**acinthe

He snaps when Orange draws his pistol, ever defiant of Versians and their warnings. He mirrors the Terran, but with all those injuries, Orange is slower.

He shoots.

The sound of the shot reverberating through the chamber is music to his ears, the Terran blood that flows is a masterpiece to his eyes. He has done it - he has eliminated the enemy. Or so he thinks.

Not just the Versians' enemy. His enemy.

No longer was the Princess Orange's. _She_ was his, now.

No more _Kaizuka Inaho _to compete with, no more annoying Terrans who botched missions for a living.


	11. Kismet

**K**ismet

He wonders if it was what he was intended for - knighthood, unrequited love, and an irredeemable self (assuming the Princess was even still alive).

Servitude still haunts him, always reminding him, that he would have become one like Harklight were he not to defect to Saazbaum. So does his obsession with his Princess, _her_ ever static form suspended in time, a constant reminder of his failure and lost future. And of course, Lemrina's distaste for royal blood, _his_ Princess deemed disposable by Saazbaum.

Just maybe, fate will deal him a hand that'll let him grasp the Princess's, one last time.


	12. Lacrimosa

**L**acrimosa

He claws at the glass tank, breathing erratic as tears streak down his face. He misses _her_, he misses _her_ so much. _Her_ smile, _her_ laughter, the way _she_ brought light into his life.

His hands tear at his hair, frustrated and annoyed and simply furious at himself for having sworn to protect the Princess with his life and falling flat on his face in his attempt to do so.

And so here _she_ was, beyond reach, a lifeless corpse, unable to forgive, unable to slap the sense back into him if _she_ so wished.

The boy continues to weep.


	13. Meline

**M**eline

He remembers the days when _she_ has him brush _her_ hair, honey locks a tangled mess (_she_ knows very well his untangling skills are unrivalled).

His fingers sweep through _her_ honeyed locks, searching and feeling for annoying little knots, and when he does, he pries them apart with the skill of a master knot-untangler, never once tugging on _her_ hair too hard, never once hearing _her_ whimper in discomfort.

(Eddelrittuo clucks her tongue in annoyance - somehow, the Terran boy does her job better than she does.)

He longs to shed his gloves and run _his_ fingers through _her_ hair.


	14. Necrobiosis

**N**ecrobiosis

Slowly, slowly, _she_ fades, he can tell, even if her vitals monitor tells otherwise.

How much harder will it be for _her_ to reawaken, disoriented and lost, to realise that Lemrina and Saazbaum had ruined what she had hoped for - peace. And how much harder would it be for him to watch _her_ attempt to adapt back to the current political climate, the current war?

Maybe it's better for _her_ to be lost forever, maybe it's better that he is never in _her_ presence again.

He doesn't deserve _her_, after all. But no princess should have to fade like this.


	15. Origami

**O**rigami

It started with a paper crane he brought with him to _her_ lessons. Small and white, but crafted with a steady hand.

It reminds _her_ of the birds he spoke of, during that one lesson. The ones _she_ wanted so badly to see when _she_ got to Earth.

Majestic, flying creatures that took to the skies and could fly free, liberated across the skies - oh, how _she_ wanted to see them with him. Be free, just for a moment, and imagine themselves as the birds.

But now, he acknowledges, with the Versians ruining the environment, the birds fly no more.


	16. Phenomena

**P**henomena

It's light diffraction, he tells _her_, when, she asks about the blues in the skies. He tells the same thing to Lemrina, when she asks.

Having to re-educate a princess on the ways of the Terran feels wrong - it's just like confirming that Asseylum is gone, for good. It's as if Vers doesn't acknowledge her anymore, not in person, not in writing, because they think that the 'Asseylum' façade Lemrina parades around with is _the real thing_.

He wonders what the phenomenon will be called once the Versians and Terrans all realise that 'Asseylum' is all but a ruse.


	17. Queen

**Q**ueen

_She_ is his queen, but only in his dreams. His Princess, his one and only - to think that _she_ would have to be married off at one point to succeed his majesty Rayregalia as ruler of Vers - he could not bear it. (_She was never yours._)

He overhears the counts' conversations, sometimes. They speak of many things, and _her_ marriage arrangements are not excluded. They laugh and mock him as he passes - they know all too well, that he has always dreamt of his Princess, his queen, and he will never have _her_ to himself.

(_Don't waste your time trying._)


	18. Requiem

**R**equiem

They say the comatose respond to aural stimulation. What they do not say, is that many do not.

Neither does the Princess.

Beethoven, pop music, lullabies - they all do not get through to her. Maybe it's the stasis liquid in which she's held, maybe they just haven't touched her soul.

But when he speaks to her, when he tries to sing that faintly familiar lullaby from his own infanthood, it isn't _her_ heart pounding. It's his.

Every little motion of hers in the stasis fluid has his heart skip a beat - maybe, _maybe_, _she_ is listening.

(_I hear your pain._)


	19. Solitude

**S**olitude

He wants to think he's gotten used to the lonely nights on VERS after eight years, but all he'll end up doing is lie.

The nights are quiet, and it gives him time to think. It gives him time to repent, time to scream insults at himself, time to stare at his Princess and shatter.

And it gives him time to remember that he is well and truly alone.

_Goodbye, Father_, the words float to the surface of his thoughts.

He can list them, one by one, the people who've left him.

After Cruhteo, he stops. His Princess is next.


	20. Truth

**T**ruth

The truth is hard to take in, sometimes. And sometimes includes the time when the best doctors and medical personnel pronounce your beloved to have only a minuscule chance of returning to you, if ever.

It also takes a lot to stomach the truth.

And the truth is, his Princess will probably never wake again.

And the truth is, he is all alone.

It takes even more to defy what is said to be true and turn the tables on destiny.

Stupid people usually fail, but sometimes they succeed.

It's highly doubted that he's going to emerge as the victor.


	21. Unbecoming

**U**nbecoming

It is unbecoming of a princess to hang around with her manservant too much, nor is it too favourable for him to seek _her_ affections.

It's also really unbecoming of a knight to have his squire address him informally, but still address his squire as his senior.

Yes, Versians are just about as backwards as their Terran counterparts.

That includes really stupid stereotypes, that both he and the Princess somewhat unwittingly fulfil. (Somewhere on Earth, a Terran soldier shakes his fist at the blonde boy who said that blue skies were a result of light diffraction.)

_Humans screw up, okay?_


	22. Vermillion

**V**ermillion

Vermillion is not the right colour to describe blood with, he knows, but its four syllables make it a pain to pronounce. Obviously, it's a pain to remember blood - his most vivid memory of it being the splashes of _her_s and Orange's (he cares nothing for Orange, but there was a ton of his blood there, too).

It is also the colour of the explosions in the far, far distance on Earth, the ones that discolour the heavenly blues of the skies and rid the birds of their habitats.

Vermillion is the colour of bloodshed and destruction, an everlasting sight.


	23. Whispers

**W**hispers

"I'm back, Princess." _Welcome home._

"I've been teaching Lemrina about Earth. Do you miss it?" _I miss you._

"I… I've been knighted, Princess." _When will you acquire your white, um, what did the Terrans call it?_

"Princess…" _Slaine…?_

"It's really lonely without you, Princess." _That makes two of us._

"Edelrittuo's been asking about you… maybe Lemrina's too much for her." _I want to see her, too._

"Can you hear me, Princess?" _I'm always here, always listening, Slaine…_

"Please…"

"…Princess…"

He sobs.

"Why did he have to shoot _you_? Why?"

_I'm not dead yet._

_I'm still waiting for you, my knight._


	24. Xenophobia

**X**enophobia

His arrival on VERS isn't a very pleasant one. (_Filthy Terran boy._)

His violent landing into a hostile land doesn't help much - these damned VERSians were humans, too. (_Stupid Terrans shouldn't question the way things work._)

Verbal, physical, mental abuse - as a young man, he has taken them all. All for his Princess, all for himself. All for a civilisation that has begun to reject its own kind (_How dare you be at ease with the Princess!_)

There is someone who accepts him, though. Just one person.

And that is enough for him - the Princess is always enough for him.


	25. Yours

**Y**ours

He remembers the vows he took before he was allowed to serve his Princess. He remembers, with startling clarity that he did so with the most pride and esteem he could muster from his self.

He remembers, how _her_ smile greeted him on the first day of their lessons together, and how they would learn (albeit err on some facts) about Earth and its oddities.

A very different geography for _her _to learn about; a very amazing person he had the blessing to be in the presence of.

And so, he decided, that forevermore, he would be _her_s. Only _her_s.


	26. Zest

**Z**est

To a boring and pathetic life, _she_ added flavour. A flavour so rich and sinful one could not bear to stop tasting.

_She_ was the stars in his sky, the flowers to his plant, the words to his book.

There was nothing more or less that _she_ would give him - always the right dosage, always sustaining his addiction to _her_ presence. It wasn't much to anyone, but the way she brought colour to his life was simply magnificent.

It was a taste of heaven that he would kill for, just for more. Just for that little bit more of _her_.


End file.
